It’s only the second abstract work by an Indigenous artist to be shortlisted for the prestigious prize.

So what makes it a self-portrait?

Ken, who is from the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands of South Australia, explains that this work is a representation of her tjukurpa, or dreaming, which in Anangu culture is akin to a self-portrait.

She speaks to me, alongside fellow artist, and one of the directors of Tjala Arts, Nyumiti Burton. I produced this story for ABC RN’s Books and Arts, and you can listen to it here.

Award-winning artist Barbara Moore in front of one of her paintings at Tjala Arts, in Amata (Georgia Moodie)

The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands of South Australia are home to some of the powerhouses of Australian contemporary art.

This year alone, artists from the APY lands earnt 25 nominations for the most prestigious Indigenous art awards in the country, the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award.

Earlier this year, 14 artists from the APY lands were announced as finalists in this year’s Wynne Prize for the best Australian landscape painting, and two others were named as finalists of this year’s Archibald portrait prize.

Work from these tiny art centres will also feature in Tarnanthi, the Art Gallery of South Australia’s Festival of Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art.

I travelled to several of these remote communities to meet with award-winning artists Barbara Moore, Mumu Mike Williams and Nici Cumpston, the Artistic Director of Tarnanthi.

I travelled courtesy of the Art Gallery of South Australia, and I produced this story for Books and Arts on ABC RN, and you can listen to it here.